“Steen Ee Ya Sas”

“Steen Ee Ya Sas”

—To Your Health

Yes you can roll your eyes at yet another friend who went to Greece this summer. Just jump on the bandwagon and go already! Well maybe not in prime season!

Back from Greece and sharing a quick review, some tips, and a few ideas that we LOVED.

I went to Greece for 6 nights and 7 days with my two oldest friends. We each have very different travel styles- but made sure to check off all the items on our individual to-do lists.

To start we hired a friend to create an Ideal Itinerary for our trip! With three very different travels we knew it would be a great idea to organize our planning and book it all ahead of time. (Especially in Greece with all the flights and ferries being on ‘island time’). Meet Courtney: a barre babe and friend from Atlanta known for your travel expertise. You can find her at www.travelbycourtney.com or on her facebook https://www.facebook.com/TravelbyCourt/ She can help guide you to the best options and variety within your budget. Not sure you know what you are looking for? Don’t worry- she can help there too! She has a variety of pricing options as well if you want to do your own booking- but want her guidance first to plan out your vacation.

We decided on 3 locations for this very fast hop around the islands! 1 day in Athens, 2 days in Mykonos, and 3 days in Santorini (before a very quick tired night in Athens and a flight out on day 7!) So here is a quick review ….

Athens

You really only need one day! Honestly- stay close to the Acropolis and find an off hours time to tour. We did our own self-guided audio tour thanks to https://www.ricksteves.com/ Yes the same travel guru that had those books about hidden finds during your college European adventures (no one? just me? I used them!) He had an app now (FREE) with great information (FREE) and you can stop and go at your own pace (FREE). Oh right did I mention… it was FREE. So off we went with our earbuds (water, sunscreen, and cameras!) Food in Athens was easy too! A healthy lunch Avocado Athens https://www.avocadoathens.com/ full of delicious vegan + vegetarian cuisine. Plus picked up some kefir water and snacks next door at an earthy grocery store. After the tour we wandered into an easy dinner spot where we learned the key to ordering was sharing!

Mykonos

We were warned about the air travel in Athens. It tends to run on it’s on timing- so be patient and don’t overly plan. Welp… patience sure I can try but we definitely missed a lunch reservation. Thanks to our travel guru we booked an awesome hotel in the town. (You either book close to the town or to the beach). We were spot on to pick the town option! So much to do- so much around you- so easy to just roll with the adventure. I highly suggest Petasos Town https://www.petasos.gr/ not only did they have a bus to the hotel they have a sister hotel by the beach Petasos Beach which they also have car service for. There are very limited taxis in Mykonos so don’t count on that! We lucked out because you can reserve a beach spot any day and just relax by the pool or a semi private area for the day with ZERO fees. The one hiccup in Mykonos was a sunset cruise… that made us turn green. No one mentioned how insanely windy it would be- so here is your official warning. Just don’t do it. Pick a different city for the same beautiful sunset.

Santorini

We had to have one ferry experience. Booked ahead of time and in the club seats (just for a little easier travel). You get to the dock full of everyone and their Mom to rush into a line to get paper tickets to wait in the sun about an hour to cattle run onto a giant boat. Still worth it though- about 3 plus hours later (island time.. It was suppose to be 2 and a half). You launch into a sea of taxis so be smart about who you ride with or how you find your taxi man. We stayed in Fira (also known as Thira). Great area and easy to walk to shops and food plus the bus stop was close by. The bus is your new best friend if you don’t rent a car. Oia (pronounced Eeee-Ya) was the other major destination on the island. Food was not the highlight of Santorini. Except for Ammoudi Fish http://ammoudisantorini.com/ with an amazing view and huge whole fishes sold by the kilos! Make a reservation. One item on our list was the hike from Fira to Oia.. a good haul 7.5 miles. Estimated to trek 2- 5 hours depending on your speed! You start around the shops and cable car in Fira and step through the town before finding a path along the steep edge to the beautiful water. Nowhere really to stop along the way so bring your water and an empty bladder! We made it about 3 hours and hungry bellies! The views were amazing so grab your cameras! Sturdy shoes a must the terrain is rockier than you think. So after doing the tough stuff we booked an amazing catamaran tour through our hotel. http://nomikosyachting.gr/ A full day excursion with a ride to the boat + lunch + drinks and views: we coasted by the red and white beaches (you can’t stop there) and ended up coasting and swimming near the ‘hot springs’.. Not really that hot but still amazing! Plus the staff was exceptional! Giving us a full history of the Island of Fira (which is it’s original name) and how the hot springs came from two Volcanos one still active! Let’s talk about the food- mmm right off the grill (don’t worry they had vegetarian options as well). Probably one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Until Next Time..

As you can see and hear we did it right.. A little relaxing, a little shopping, and a ton of memories later. Now if only I didn’t come back with an island cold too!

These two ladies with me made it all worth it! ThreeMusketeers 4 Life